Hi i'm bi-polar with 2 daughters as well diagnosed..we all take different meds! Great site..

Far from caring about withdrawal, this feeds nicely into their bottom line -- customers for life. It serves the drug companies nicely that these drugs are absolute hell to stop taking. Think of it from a capitalist point of view. That's how they measure it. So naturally it also serves them to have you think you've got an intractable "disease" and "need" it desperately. Then not only are you "addicted" you are also disempowered.

Google Zyprexa and death - see what you get.

hi - i was referred over here by another blogger and am glad i stopped by.

i'm on day 12 of Paxil withdrawals - reason being the doctor wants me to start with Effexor because the Paxil 40mg was seemingly no longer effective and he likes the results he obtains with Effexor.

after having felt like total shit (sorry for language) the past almost two weeks, i was looking forward to going on my new meds on monday. however, now that i am reading more about the withdrawal effects of the new meds, i am at a loss as to what i should do. i suffer from anxiety/panic attacks and depression -- which is the lesser of the two evils?

i know we don't start on a med looking to withdraw from it, but after what i have been suffering these past two weeks, that is one of the first things i look for now after i read the initial *side effects*.

discontinuation syndrome? who are these people kidding?

m2 -- It probably takes a lot longer than 12 days to withdraw from 40 mg of Paxil. It depends on how long you've been on it but try to find out more about the CORRECT way to go off Paxil and I'd avoid Effexor like the plague, maybe get a new doctor, or, better yet, a cognitive behavioral therapist. There's a great book out there about getting off antidepressants called The Antidepressant Solution by Joseph Glenmullen -- and in it there are lots of narratives about coming off Paxil and Effexor, the two most difficult antidepressants to withdraw from.

I don't understand why people are so afraid of taking benzos for anxiety. Withdrawing off a benzo (except Xanax) is a way less difficult than from Effexor or Paxil, yet people are avoiding them. Xanax, which is the strongest of them all in the U.S., requires a long taper.

I am not at all sure withdrawing off a benzo is "way less difficult." Benzo withdrawal comes with a whole host of physical and psychiatric symptoms and, like SSRIS, can cause problems for months after the last pill (so called protracted withdrawal syndrome). However I think it is fair to say that if you have never been addicted to benzos it might be safer to take one or two in a time of dire emergency than it is to take an SSRI. But if you want to read a harrowing story of benzo addiction read Addiction by Prescription by Joan Gadsby. That might strike some fear into you.

Red Rover, I would have to disagree with you. Two women in the psych hospital when I was there were being treated for addiction to benzos thanks to their psychiatrists who gave it out like candy. It's no picnic I can assure you. They were going through a hell few people can imagine. I've taken benzos on a couple of occasions, but it shouldn't be handed out as regular med to be taken daily or people are going to find themselves in a world of hurt.

I've been on Effexor since 2002 and for the first time in my long life I've been free of continual preoccupation with suicide. I've been on aprroximately thirty psych meds in the past twenty years and this has been the best for me. I hope I never have to discontinue it, but if I suffer through that process it will have been worth it. At least I will have had the experience of living with reduced deprsession temporarily.

Obviously, I've suffered ill effects of many meds that have helped others or I wouldn't have needed to try so many. I would never tell others to steer clear of a med that might help them because I was allergic to it, was made more depressed by it or had cataplexy and hypertensive crisis from it.

Effexor may well have saved my life but I'm not going to tell someone who's depressed whether they should, or should not take it. I'm not their pdoc. It's extremely irresponsible to tell someone to avoid a potentially life saving med "like the plague."

susie, I have to wonder if being on thirty meds over the past twenty years might not have contributed to that continual suicidal preoccupation you've had. Whatever underlying depression you had it's long since been clouded by side effects of mind altering medication and, if Effexor is working, it might just be because it's medicating the side and withdrawal effects of prior treatment. It's true I'm no pdoc and I wouldn't be one of those snake oil salesmen for anything, but I think I know more about psych meds than the lot of them and it's from listening to victims, not health professionals. This sounds harsh but if I didn't think a lot of harm was being done, if I didn't believe lives were being destroyed, not saved, I wouldn't be speaking out like this.

Susie, my opinions are quite similar to yours. I'm for whatever works for the patient. But, I do think it's important for the pdoc to discuss the problems that are very common when one discontinues Effexor PRIOR to prescribing the drug. It's one thing if we're talking about a rare side effect, but there are enough people out there who vomit and have diarrhea and the weird brain zaps and increased suicidal thoughts, and on and on that it's irresponsible for the doc to NOT discuss it beforehand. That way, those of us who are not okay with risking those side effects or problems with withdrawing from the med can make an informed decision. What I want, and expect, is information that was known but that I wasn't given.

Wow, that was a jumbled up response. I need to read what I type before I post. What I was trying to say (and not very well) is that doctors know that there are a lot of problems in people withdrawing from Effexor. Therefore, it should be discussed with the patient prior to prescribing it. Had I known then what I know now, I would have never taken it.

I tapered off a low dose of Effexor (37.5) from July 2006 to December 2006 with my doctor's help. I originally started taking an anti-depressant in 1994 due to a bad job situation. I stayed on because getting off them was too difficult... When I finally decided to stick it out, symptoms included severe "wooziness" and balance problems and headache like a tight band around the head. Moving around feels like trying to walk on a boat.

It is now August 2008. I still have these symptoms, 24/7. Common problems such as BPV and neck problems have been ruled out. No one has been able to help. Apparently I have severe protracted withdrawal symptoms (also called P.A.N.E.S. Persistent Adverse Neurological Effects from SSRIs). They are not improving over time.

Nasty, nasty drug.